Any Other World
by Lady Merlin
Summary: HermionexBlaise fic. My first one. Give it a try. Hermione's life isn't as perfect as it seems, and after an unfortunate series of events, who can save her, after almost killing her?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I'd like to thank the Author of 'Perfect Marks' (I can't recall her name and don't want to misspell it) for inspiring me to this golden path of shipping. I mean, when I read Harry Potter, I never knew whom to put Hermione with. I always never liked Ron (I mean no offense, I just don't like him as Hermione's boy friend) and Harry… well I always hoped Harry would die, and so he would be like, the timeless hero thingy. I mean, it didn't seem right, that's all. Hermione's a brilliant character, but rather tough to pair. I put her with Remus for a while, but there were too many technicalities, and then I came across this new and uncommon (or so I thought) paring. And I loved it. So, here goes my first attempt at Hermione-Blaise. I honestly don't know why so many people make him Italian, but it's hot, so I will to. :D I own no one. P.S. Blaise is _not_ Draco's buddy. Kay? Oh and by the way, I have named this fic after one of Mika's songs (He's hot, and he has a brilliant voice! Go listen to him!). I don't own that song either. Just in case. I can't handle a law-suit now. :D

Here goes, sorry for the long intro. Enjoy!

Hermione coughed. This was not good. This was about the time when she said 'Oh No'. But she didn't exactly feel like it. Saving the world had worn her down. Or, at least, helping to save the world had. She wasn't being arrogant. It was the truth. She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the door to her small house in London, conveniently located near to a huge library and a portal to the Ministry. Of Magic, of course.

She now worked as an Auror. For those who don't know what an Auror is, it is basically the toughest job around, in which when you are a novice, you get bullied by your seniors, and when you are a senior, you get killed. Literally. She coughed again. Groaning, she disabled several wards around her home and walked in, unconsciously putting them back up again. Practically living with Mad Eye made it difficult to not be vigilant. You could never be sure he wouldn't forget that you were on the same side as him.

Flopping down on her couch, she ran through a list of things she had to do in the next week. Dinner, work, sleep, work, dinner with parents, sleep, work- wait. Shit. Dinner with parents. She wasn't going to be able to make it in this state. What now? Her parents were going to think she was avoiding them. She'd canceled at least three times. _Make that six_ an annoying voice nagged in her head. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't had anything to eat the whole day. Except for the constant shots of strong coffee smuggled in by several daring colleagues.

Dragging herself into the kitchen, she fixed a sandwich for herself and two glasses of milk. Two because she both liked it, and because she needed to protein and calcium, with the number of bones she broke now-a-days. She scarfed them down and made her way to the bedroom, making sure both her muggle and magic wards were up. Her bedroom was modest; a single bed on the side, a cupboard for all her belongings and a vanity, which she rarely used. Tonight she decided to examine herself in the mirror. Dressed in a tattered shirt and pants, she blew onto the surface of the mirror. Clouds of grey-brown dust puffed everywhere. For once, she didn't feel the obsession to clean up. She gazed into the mirror. She was thin to an extreme, her chest looked normal, but her cheek bones showed prominently, and there was little but skin on her stomach and thighs. This is, ignoring all the muscles she had developed recently. Once the weight loss stopped, the weight shot up. Muscles were, as she had discovered, heavier than fat. She stared at her face intently. It was angular, pretty, a bit. Her eyes were large, a deeper brown than she remembered them. Her skin was pale, bordering on sallow, and her lips, though full, were crinkled. Her nose was pretty much the same, only a bit pointier. She some how looked Asian. She had heavy purple circles under her eyes. Her teeth were white and straight, but she didn't have much of a chance to dazzle anyone. Her eyelashes were long and thick. She was unlucky. She had the features, but for some reason, put together, they looked just awkward.

Brushing her teeth, she almost missed the phone. Running out of her room and tripping over the banister parallel to the small flight of stairs leading to her living room, she picked up the phone. "'Ullo?"

"Hermione?" came a familiar voice.

"'Arry!" she cried delightedly. "'ong fime!"

"Hey 'mione. Is something wrong?"

"Nah, bwushing feeth. Call ya back." And she clicked the phone shut. She went up to her room and finished quickly, dialing his number, which she had by heart.

"Harry!!" she cried, genuinely happy. "It's good to hear from you!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's good to talk to you too." He replied, his tone showing just a hint of amusement.

"Well… spill. What's up?" she asked.

"Me? Oh nothing much. Just, I'M GOING TO BECOME A FATHER!!!" he yelled over the phone.

Hermione screamed, half disbelieving, half overjoyed. "I'd better be it's god-mother," she threatened.

"Are you decent?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"are you?"

"yeah."

And the phone clicked shut as she apparated to his house, and squealed, throwing herself at Ginny and Harry and kissing their cheeks. "I'm so happy for you! Is it a girl or a boy?"

"Boy," Ginny replied, grinning. She sobered down when she looked properly at Hermione. "'mione, you don't look so good. Are you dieting?" she accused.

Hermione glared. "No. I'm not dieting."

"Then why are you so skinny?"

"I'm not skinny."

"and you're obviously not sleeping enough."

"I am so!"

"Hermione, who's your new boyfriend? Is he abusive?"

"What? What gave you the idea I have a boyfriend?" she demanded, slightly infuriated.

"what else could it be? You work at a library, it can't be stressing you out that much." Harry said quietly, supporting his wife.

She blushed furiously and ducked her head. "Well. Erm. I'mnotworkingatalibrayI'mkindofworkingattheMinistyofMagicasanAuror."

"You do realise, Hermione, that you'll have to say that again." Harry said dryly.

"Yeah. Okay," she took a deep breath, "I'm working as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic."

Both Harry and Ginny just stared at her, dumb-founded.

Well? How is it? does it sound in the least interesting? Well, Review please!!

Love,

Lady Merlin


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's number two. I'm wondering about Blaise. I've decided on their meeting, but I'm not too sure about their profession. Hmm… How bout this, I'll do the chapter, and you tell me if I should redo it, kay?

I own no one.

Explanations complete, Hermione enjoyed a peaceful, if strained, dinner with Harry and Ginny. Conversation was limited, and at the end, Hermione wasn't sure if hiding it from them had been an entirely good idea. People out there might ask; why?

All she had to say was that Harry and Ron had been a bit too protective over the past few years, and she needed her privacy. Besides, a small voice in her head said, they'd never have allowed you. And she didn't think it was up to them to allow her anything. Anyhow... She drove back from their house, relieved it was over.

It was eleven. She needed sleep. Tomorrow was Saturday. Yay! A holiday! Oh wait. She'd forgotten that the magical community didn't seem to understand the significance of the weekend. Sigh. Work.

After approximately 6 hours of sleep, she was up at 5. It was early, yes, but when working with Moody, one must work with constant vigilance. This basically meant that the recruits had to be there before Moody, and Moody was never consistent. _This _basically meant they had to turn up waaaay before the ministry even opened. So Moody wouldn't catch them late. (A/N: sorry that paragraph was abnormally lame, even for me, so sorry)

Dragging herself out of bed she apparated to work (after all the basic stuff, Ya know) Greeted jovially by colleagues she attempted cheer, but failed miserably. Dragging herself home, she was watched by two friends who quietly discussed with concern, "She's not doing well."

"She's working too hard"

"Yeah. She needs a break."

She made it home and dressed in a black strapless dress and pulled on some court shoes. She ran a comb through her tangled hair and did her best to conceal her panda eyes. She glanced at herself in the mirror; as good its gonna get.

Well? I know the last half was slightly on the crappy side. Scratch that, waaaay on the crappy side.

Review please?!

Love,

Lady Merlin

P.S. I realise that some of you won't get the connection between the song 'Any Other World' and my story, but relax, it'll be easier to get later. As a very good author once stated:

The reader said, I don't understand

And the Author said, of course you don't. I haven't explained it yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all. I own no one.

She walked out of her house and sat in her car. Revving up the engine she backed out of her driveway and made her way to her parent's home. She knocked on the door and was welcomed by her parents with big hugs and smiles. Dinner was fun. They talked about everything they could possibly talk about, and more. Hermione was glad that they didn't bring up her rather zombie-like appearance. Or, so she thought.

Her parents exchanged a glance and her mother nodded, and asked Hermione, "Come on honey, help me do the dishes."

Hermione followed. "So what's up mom?"

"Honey, we've noticed that you look rather tired…"

"Yeah, I'm working overtime lately."

"That's what we wanted to tell you. We think you should take a break from your job, perhaps find yourself a good man, get settled…" she trailed off, seeing the furious look on Hermione's face.

"Mother, all my life I have worked hard, I have worked harder than anyone else, so I wouldn't have to be dependant on anyone ever. I've reached my goal. I'm on my way to the top. I can only wait now. Soon, I won't have to worry about anything. How can you ask me to give up my dream?" Hermione demanded.

Her mother stood quietly; dishes forgotten. "Darling, look at me." Hermione refused and continued looking away. "Darling," her mother touched her cheek with a withered hand. "Listen. Me and your father are so proud of you, of everything you've done, of everything you've been through. We are so proud, our hearts could burst. But my dear, if we could turn back time, we'd have done anything to stop you from having to do it all over again. It's taken so much from you, sweet."

"But mother, this is what I want to do. It's my dream. Mom, do you think you could forgive yourself if you didn't try? You have one life, could you forget, or would you have nightmares of what could have been? I can't accept that. I have to do my best."

Her mother sighed. "Alright darling. Alright. Just try to eat more. You look like you weigh less than 40 kg (I'm sorry, I use the metric system and don't know how to convert on the spot)"

She laughed. "I weigh 56 kg mom."

Her mother gasped, backed off and smiled. "Atheletic…" They laughed.

As she drove back that night, she was turning off the highway, when all of a sudden; a red sports-mobile behind her skidded. It spun in wild circles around the road, missing her narrowly and slamming violently into the metal railings, denting them severely. A deep blue Volvo attempted to avoid crashing into the red sports-mobile and in the end crashed into Hermione's silver Mercedes.

Hermione was watching in horror, paralyzed. She didn't know which was to go; ahead was a traffic jam, behind was a car crash. Suddenly, a car slammed into the back of Hermione's car, and a huge impact jolted her. She hit her head on the steering wheel, and the last thing she remembered was 'Mom…'

Okay, I'm sorry. I know something is wrong. I don't know. It's like I've forgotten how to write. But that can't be possible, can it? I feel so awkward. Does it sound okay? For people who've read my other stories, can you please tell me if it sounds stiff? PLEASE? I'm panicking. Review by the way. I'm feeling highly insecure here.

Love,

Lady Merlin.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm seriously sorry

Yo dudes! I know I haven't done this for a long time, but I'm going through a tough period, and a bout of inspiration just hit me like a million bricks, so yeah. I shouldn't be writing now. I have too much work due. Grrr. Anyway, I own nothing and I claim nothing. Don't sue. Enjoy!

Hermione dreamt of steps. Millions and millions of there annoying, knee-high steps made of concrete, that _hurt_ like crap if you hit your knee. She dreamt of Starbucks at the top, like some Incan temple, enshrined in gold. And then she dreamt of the tooth-brushes, which didn't really make sense, but there you go. The tap-dancing tooth-brushes in with the pink umbrella's. Briefly, she wondered if she had lost all semblance of sanity. Before she could ponder this question further, she realised she was awake.

Oh good.

She was somewhere foreign. It sure as heck wasn't her bedroom. For one it was clean. And it was white. Waaay opposite. It smelled…like…

Oh dear. Not good.

She was in a hospital.

Alright, relatively pointless chapter, but you'll see the importance, I promise.

Love,

Lady Merlin


	5. Chapter 5

Well people, I have written a new chapter to prove to you that I am not dead

Well people, I have written a new chapter to prove to you that I am not dead. I shouldn't be writing this; I should be studying, I have a philosophy project due soon, but ah well.

She blinked once or twice, eyes adjusting to the blinding light.

She began to see normally again. She felt really stiff, like her joints were made of stone. She moved her hand to move an annoying strand of hair from her eye. She found that she couldn't. Damn, what was wrong? She couldn't remember what had happ— Oh. Right.

Memories of the car-crash flooded through her mind, sending her reeling. Who had been in that deep blue Volvo? Was that person okay? Because if they were, there was nothing she would like to do more in the world than rip one eyeball out and make them watch themselves eat it. Momentarily it occurred to her that she should seek help. First the toothbrushes and now this. She sighed. Would it never end?

She pushed herself to a side, using her hip and shoulder muscles which protested violently. She realised that her teeth were covered in a layer of slime, like she hadn't brushed in days. It hit her like a punch; she hadn't brushed in days. The only thought that was flashing in her mind was, 'Moody's going to kill me'.

She moaned, louder than she would have liked. She heard bed-sheets rustling beside her. For the first time, it occurred to her that she was not alone. She tilted her neck to an awkward angle and saw that the bed beside her was occupied by a young man. Her was quite good looking, she was ashamed to note. He had olive coloured skin, and extravagant black eyelashes, matching with his hair. Her finger ached to touch it, wondering weather the silky curls were gelled or natural. She hit herself mentally. She couldn't do this to herself. Or to him. No doubt the guy would be highly disturbed to find a woman touching his hair.

She shook herself out of it, to see his eyes cracking open. He had amazing forest green eyes, further emphasized by the dark circles around his eyes.

She tried to say hi, found she couldn't speak, cleared her throat and tried again. "Hi," came out a croak. _Great first impression, Hermione, wonderful job. _

The man raised an eyebrow. "Hi." His voice wasn't in much better condition than hers. A teency weency voice in her head cackled, 'Mwahahahah! You're back in the game!' She quelled it for the only reason it didn't make sense. Another point against her sanity.

The man seemed to suddenly remember what had happened. A look of horror flashed past his eyes. She wondered what he had _thought _had happened; he couldn't be thinking she was in bed with him, right? But before she could think this through, he burst out into apology, "Oh dear god! I'm so sorry! I was trying to avoid the red car, and the wheels went into a weird position! I couldn't control the car, I slammed into you sideways! I'm so sorry! The only thing I remember is the ambulance and them taking you first, before I passed out. I'm so sorry!" He looked tortured.

Hermione couldn't help but feel warmly that he was making too big a fuss out of it (she conveniently forgot they were in the hospital)

"Hey, relax. You got hurt too. It's okay. We're still alive," she said quietly.

He closed his eyes, agonizing some more. "I'm Blaise, Blaise Zabini. The least I can do for you after we get out, is buy you a coffee."

She laughed. "coffee, the food or the gods. I had a dream about a Starbucks enshrined like some Incan temple, or something. Hey Blaise. I'm Hermione Granger."

The warm look on his face vanished, to be replaced with one of horror. "Hermione?" he demanded, "as in, the-oh-so-great-Potter's girlfriend?"

"I am not his girlfrie— wait. How the hell do you know Harr— Oh my god, Zabini from Slytherin?"

"Well duh?! Where else?"

"Crap it all. I bet your going to tell Draco all about my Starbucks fantasy," she muttered.

"That's all your worried about?" He demanded. "The starbucks dream? Aren't you going to kill me or something?"

"Contrary to Slytherin belief, we don't go around killing people."

"Okay, as long as you don't kill me, I have a plan."

"To what?"

"Get the crap outta here. I always respected you for being smart. And I sure neither of us has enough energy to apparate individually, so we should—"

The door opened…

Well? Nice cliffie? I think so too. Review and I'll update.

Love,

Lady Merlin


	6. Chapter 6

"Contrary to Slytherin belief, we don't go around killing people

"_Contrary to Slytherin belief, we don't go around killing people."_

"_Okay, as long as you don't kill me, I have a plan." _

"_To what?" _

"_Get the crap outta here. I always respected you for being smart. And I sure neither of us has enough energy to apparate individually, so we should—"_

_The door opened…_

Hey everyone! Here's chappie 6. Enjoy!

Both of them turned to see who was coming. The door creaked open and both of them sighed. It was a short, plump rose-cheeked doctor. "Hello!" he said in a jolly manner. "My name is Doctor Watson, and I'll be taking care of you for as long as you need to stay. So tell me, how are you feeling?"

Hermione and Blaise exchanged a glance.

"I hurt all over?" Hermione said, more a suggestion than a complaint.

"Of course you do!! You probably feel like you've been dragged through thorn bushes down a steep rock-littered hill…"

Hermione and Blaise exchanged a wary look. Either this was a really crazy doctor, or he was a minion of Voldemort doing a very bad impression of a muggle doctor. Personally, she suspected that he was just a very harmless, very strange deprived little man who lived a candy-less childhood and attempted a positive outlook on the world in an impression to fake happiness. She sincerely hoped she wasn't saying this out loud.

Thankfully, she wasn't, but by the amused expression on Blaise's face, he felt the same way. Both watched the funny little man as he chattered on like a bullet train and they fueled him by interesting comments. Hermione discovered that Blaise had a butter-wouldn't-melt type of sarcasm, which this doctor seemed completely immune to.

In around 15, completely wasted, minutes, Dr. Watson left the room promising to be back with pain meds.

"Ugh. I think he gave me a headache worse than the one I already had," Blaise said, closing his eyes.

"Want me to heal it?" Hermione asked innocently, with an all too innocent look on her face.

He didn't fall for it. "My contacts told me your were kicked out of med school. No way honey."

Hermione was momentarily preoccupied by the way he said the word 'honey', with a strange drawl. Like Malfoy's drawl, only lighter. Both of them had this lilting, smooth, admittedly sexy drawl. Malfoy's was malicious. Blaise's wasn't.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Be that way. Deprive me of my chances to experience—"

"Shut up Granger," he said jokingly.

"Hermione. Call me Hermione," she said in a brief moment of something-ness. She had no clue why. As he stared she decided it hadn't been the best of ideas to offer that semblance of a truce. "Okay, sorry. Feel free to call me Grange—"

"Call me Blaise."

And that was that.

Well, I know it was a relatively useless chapter but nevermind. It helps develop something. I think. Enjoy the fluff! I guarantee, there won't be anything but plot in the next few chapters. If I can manage it. :D

REVIEW!!

Love,

Lady Merlin


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